Method of making battery nuts



Dec. 4, 1928.

' 1,693,957 E. G. OAKLEY METHOD OF MAKING BATTERY NUTS ..Filed April 28. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l :Dec. 4, 192a. I 1,693,957

' E. G. OAKLEY METHOD OF MAKING BATTERY NUTS Filed April 28. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented 4,

' UNITED STATES v 1,693,957 PATENT OFFICE.

mares e. own, or sournroma'connaczrrcur, Assmnoa zro narncnroar muss comrm, or nmnqnroa'r, CONNECTICUT.

METHOD OF MAKING BATTERY NUTS.

Application filed Andras, 1922. Serial no. 557,111.

This invention relates to battery or other nuts adapted to be used in connection with binding posts or terminal osts in making electrical connections. Whl e my invention primarily concerns the method of manufacture of articles of this character, I also con- .tem late the provision of a battery or bin ing ost nut of improved form. 4 v One o'ject of my invention is the provision of a nut which is cheap and economical to manufacture and yet very serviceable. Another object of, m invention is the provision of a new an im roved method of manufacture of articles 0 the kind mentioned.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a method of manufacture of battery nuts or similar articles from wire stock wherein the waste of material will be- 50 reduced to a minimum and bywhich the finished article maytherefore be produced at a low cost.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combina-' l8 tions of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed. p

In the accom an ing drawings; Fig. 1' is a si e e evational view of a batte nut made in accordance with the princil il es of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view ofthe same;

Fig. 3 is a view showing the article as it appears in various stages of its manufacture- 4 is a fragmentary view of the heading press used in connection with one etc in the method of manufacture of the nut;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig.4, showing the parts in a different position, wherein the second step in the heading operation is performed;

Fig. 6 is a' view showing the drllhng operation,-

Fig. 7 1s a view partly in slde elevation and artly in section, showing the manner in which the flange is formed at the lower end of the nut; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but showing the operation by which the bore is ta ld h i le for the purpose of disclosing my invention fully and clearly I have illustrated a preferred form of battery nut and one method by which it may be made, 1t will be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise sha e or structure of the article SIOWIl, nor to I limit myself to the exact steps herein set forth in the manufacture of the article, nor to the sequence in which these steps are preferabl performed. It will also be clear that eaci of the socalled steps in the manufacture of the nut may be the result of a fewer or greater number of operations than those described, w1thout departing from the principles of the invention. y

In Figs. 1 and2 of'the drawings, I have shown a referred form of battery nut consistmg 0 body portion 10 having a knurled head 11 at the upper portion thereof and a lower flanged portion 12. The flanged portion 12 has a lateral face or edge 13, which is substantially parallel with the axis of the threaded bore 14 of the nut. The bore 14 below the threads thereof is flared out, as at 15', in conformance with the external flared *flange 12. It will be ap arent that this flared or bell shaped portion of the nut will operate to seat the nut eil'ective 1y upon the electric wire looped about the bmdmg post,- afl'ording an extended skirtlike hearing thereon.

While the manufacture of my improved battery nut may be effected in other ways, I prefer to use the method herein described in which the nut is manufactured from a piece of brass generally cylindrical in shape, as shown at 16, in Fig. 3. This blankmay readily be provided by cutting a piece of proper length from a wire or rod of suitable p diameter. In general, the operations by which the battery nut is produced from the blank consist of: a heading operation, the result of which is the headed blank, shown at 17; a drilling and beveling operation, the product of which'is shown at 18; a flaring operation, wherein the blank is formed, as shown at 20; and lastly, the tapping of the bore to produce the finished artlcle shown in Figs. 1 and 2. These operations will no w" be described in greater detail.

The heading operation may be the result of one or more separate steps, and in the form shown is preferably accomplished in two steps or operations, which may be per formed in a double stroke header provided with a single die. The die, as illustrated at 21, is provided with a die opening 22 of propershape, the periphery of the upper part of this opening being suitablyribbed,

as at 23, to form ribs or knurlings upon the head of the nut. Within the die opening there may be provided a stripping and centering punch 24 having a conically shaped end 25, which impresses the blank to center the drill-used in a future operation. The first step of the heading operation is that of subjecting the blank to the stroke of the punch 26 by which it is formed into the shape shown at 27 in Fig. 4.

Upon the second stroke of the header the punch 28 is brought down upon the blank, as shown at Fig. 5, and the heading operation is completed. The metal of the blank is caused to flow out into the enlarged upper portion of the die opening 22 and the peripheral ribs impress complementalribs or knurled portions upon the periphery of the head.

The blankwhich is now in the form shown at 17 in Fig. 3, is then fed into a drilling blank,

while the drilling and beveling operations machine shown, in a fragmentary way, in Fig. 6. The clamp 29 is preferably arranged to hold two of the blanks in such a manner that both may be simultaneously drilled from opposite sides of the clamp. As the two blanks 17 are securely held in the clamp, the drills 30 enter from either side thereof and drill out the bores 31 in the blanksu The drills 30 are preferably mounted, in hollow mills 32, provided with cutting surfaces 33 arranged to bevel the unheaded end of the as shown at 34. It will be noted that may be performed independently of each other, I refer to perform them simultane ously, as as just been described.

The blank which is now in the form shown at 18, in Fig. 3, is then placed in a suitable dial press and by the action of a properly shaped punch the beveled end is flared over to provide the flange 12, the beveled ortion 34 becoming the edge 13 of the mished product. The drill press may comprise an anvil 35 over which is mounted a rotatable dial 36, provided with a plurality of openings, one of which is shown at 37. Within the opening 37 is mounted a sleeve or collar 38, within which the blank 18' is placed. The punch 39 is then brought down, the small end 40 entering the bore of the blank to some extent and the unheaded end thereof is flared out, as shown at 20, in Figs. 7 and 3.

' blanks are For the production of the finished article, it is now only necessary that the bore 31 be tapped or threaded,and this operation is performed in a tapping machine. shown in a fragmentary way in Fig. 8. Two of the laced in opposite "sides of a clamp 41 an are threaded simultaneously by the taps 4-2 arranged to enter from opposite sides. The finished product, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is then removed from the tapping machine.

It will be obvious that by my method a battery nut of improved texture and form is produced with very little loss of material, which results in a considerable economy in the manufacture of such articles. The metal of the blank is. condensed and the article strengthened by the described working of the metal, and only a small amount of scrap is produced. Moreover, the method may be carried out by simple and relatively inexpensive automatic machine operations, and the finished article may be produced from the blank by a relatively small number of these operations.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. The method of making a battery nut or the like, which consists of heading one end of a cylindrical piece of stock, drilling a hole through the same, flarin out the other end, and tapping the drilled ole.

2. The method of makin a battery nut or the like which comprises he of a piece of solid stock, drilling through the same, beveling the unheaded end and flaring out the metal of the last named end, substantially as described.

3. The method of making a battery nut which comprises preparing a blank having a. cylindrical body ortion and bore therethrough, and a hea upon one end thereof, beveling the unheaded end of the blank and then flaring outthe beveled end so that the beveled portion becomes a lateral edge of the flared flange.

4..The method of making a battery nut or the like, which includes beveling one end of a piece of stock and punching or flaring out the end thereof so that the beveled portion becomes a lateral'edge of the flared 5. The met 0d of making battery nuts or the like, w ich comprises heading and drilling through a given length of stock, beveling the unheaded end thereof and flaring out this end so that the beveled face assumes a position substantially parallel to the axis 0 the drilled bore.

6. The method of making a battery nut which comprises preparing a blank having a cylindrical body portion and a head on one end thereof, perfecting a bore therethrough, and then flaring out the unheaded end of the blank to form a flared mouth leading into the bore while maintaining the exterior diameter of the blank at the intermediate portion thereof.

7. The method of making battery nuts or. the like which includes drilling a bore through a piece of stock, beveling one end thereof outwardly from the bore and then flaring out the beveled end to form a laterally rojecting'flange. I

8. T e method of making battery nuts or the like, which comprises heading one end of a suitable length of solid stock, drilling a hole through the same and flaring outwardly ading one end 7 the wall of the resulting tubular blank at the like,

the end opposite the head to form a bell shaped mouth leading into the bore.

9. The method of making battery nuts or which comprises heading and knurling one end of a suitable lengthof solid stock having a cross-section substantially equal in size to the body portion of the finished nut,

of the blank, flaring the beveled end outward'ly so that the beveled portion becomes a lateral edge of the flared flange, and tapping the drilled bore.

11,. The method of making a battery nut, which comprises forming an opening through a solid blank and operating on opposite ends of the blank to form ahead upon one end, i

and a flared mouth portion at the other end, while maintaining the exterior diameter of Tn Witness whereof,,I have hereunto set my hand on the 25th day of April, 1922.

' ERASTUS OAKLEY.

the blank at the intermediate portion'there- 

